Let the Rain fall
by Damon-Totoure
Summary: The city is a ruined, dirty armpit of a place. The nights are dangerous, the guards are merciless; It's hell on Mobius. Ratings may change later, not that it matters to you, or anything... R/R please. K/J
1. The Story Begins

Glaring, dark violet watched jealously as a blue and blond blur whizzed by, a flurry of quick feet, dancing and jumping through the falling snow that fell like powdered sugar onto the already sparkling city street.

Knuckles merely grunted as he turned the collar of his thin jacket higher, hiding the shiver that racked his body as the cold wind swept through him. He turned from the joyous trio of friends, opting to instead stare blankly out across the lonely street, huddling with his haunched shoulders closer to the tin, fire lit barrel, rubbing his freezing hands together.

He was filthy; Torn, baggy jeans soaking wet half way up his shins, stained with dirt and grease, a torn, thread bare, over-sized sweat shirt barely covering a limp, baggy white long sleeve, stained to a light gray. His mid back length dreads were underbrushed and, if possible, an even bigger greasy, tangled mess than his clothes and ratty, coarse fur put together. The worn combat boots cladding his feet were dirty and falling apart, literary, at the seems.

How he **hated **this place; This filthy, rat-infested city with its trapping walls (a false sense of security), its towering building with snarling, scowling inmates (selfish bastards), and cold, lonely streets.

His life was this city, dirty, desolate, criminal; He knew _he_ belonged here. He didn't know why _they _were there. Clearly, _they _belong in this part of the city.

Whatever, he dismissed. Let them rot here as he'd been rotting for the past twelve years. They'd learn the same way he had: The one and only way of learning. The hard way.

He looked up suddenly at the sky.

_Night-time. _

The patrolling guards would be there shortly with their stunners and bikes; It was time to leave.

He turned dull violets back to the playing friends, scowling as he caught sight fully of their laughing smiling faces.

"We have to leave." he said shortly, stuffing his hands into his torn pockets. Ignoring the crest-fallen faces, he turned on his heel and began his way across the street, trooping silently through the freshly fallen snow.

Without really much of a choice, the two boys dejectedly followed with dragging feet.

He looked up again as the light dimmed darker, quickening his pace. "Hurry up," he gruffly said over his shoulder. He didn't look back to see if the two followed his order.

The light dimmed darker. He cast a worried glance above. At this rate, they'd never make it before the light went out completely.

He began to run, a full-on pelt through the snow, barking over his shoulder at his two fellow comrades.

The ran into the next street, running with pounding feet and crunching snow, careful of slipping on the glittering powder.

The light went out completely before they made it to the end of the deserted block.

Panic shot through his body. _No way_ where they going to make it now...

As if on cue, a shout suddenly rang out, sharp and startling. At first, he didn't know where it'd come from; The two behind him or somewhere else. It took him a moment to figure out it'd come from his lips. He found himself laying on the snow covered ground, soaking into the cold snow and a coursing pain playing across his back. He gasped as something sharp stabbed through the fabric of his torn jacket, pricking his lower back.

"Knuckles?!"

"G-get-out-of-here..."

He could barely breathe, let alone force the words from his mouth the pain was so intense. He was completely immobilized, paralyzed on the cold, hard ground.

Something heavy and hard cracked against the base of his head, stunning him with even more pain until stars played across his eyes.

The edges of his vision began to blur together, darkening and creeping closer and closer.

"_No use in fighting it..."_

"_It's so much easier to just except it, let the pain fade and just let go. There has to be a better place than this hell...right?"_

His teachers had been right; What was the point in fighting the darkness? He'd lose in the end anyways, no point fighting the inevitable.

"_Just let go, chada. Let the Wholes take you away."_

_Wholes?_

"_Beautiful creatures, winged 'angels' I suppose is what you'd call them. They're white, holy, pure, perfect, saving... They'll take you into the great beyond, away from the pain...just let go...join them in flight, join _us _in peaceful harmony..." _

~!~

With pain-filled lavender eyes, she watched as he was carried in, dead-looking as they gently set him on the empty bed. She watched them leave, biting her lip nervously. AS they filed from the room, she quickly caught the automatic door and slipped into the room, her small, thin frame moving silently towards the silent, limp figure on the dirty bed.

Her once-upon-a-time bright eyes filling with tears, she reached out with a tentative hand and softly brushed his face, brushing the stray strands of loosened hair from his forehead, away from his unmoving face.

_Please don't be gone, _she begged silently as she stepped closer, leaning over his limp, unmoving body. _Please, please, please..._

Hours later, he'd still be dormant and barely breathing, the moving of his wrapped chest barely slight if anything at all. She dutifully stayed by his side, waiting determinedly, if with increasingly hopelessness, by the bed.


	2. Four Years later

She shifted in his arms, turning over in her sleep, her lanky hair falling in wisps across her face as she buried herself deeper into his arms, sighing softly. Her slim fingers unconsciously stroked his thick fur, combing over his forearms, lightly slipping over the concealed, white scars that snaked over his hidden skin, like cracks on a street after an earthquake.

She never minded his scars; In fact, the only time she ever acknowledged their existence was when she was helping him stitch up his torn, ragged, bleeding skin. He always got the impression she loved his scars; looking at him with love-filled eyes, adoration evident every time she kissed him. Like they were part of him, so she loved them too.

He tightened his grasp of her petite body closer to him, burying his face into her strewn dreads and hair, inhaling her familiar scent. As if sensing his movement, she shifted again, snuggling closer into his chest. She sighed, her sweetened breath blowing lightly across his chest.

The even, slow breathing of his lover was suddenly drowned out; Over taken by the sudden sound of blades swishing speedily through the air, slicing the air with swishing sounds. Bright light filled the dirty window of the apartment, filling the room with bright light. His chest tightened, and he automatically closed his eyes, holding his breathe as the search-light filled the room, flowing over the two in their bed.

He pretended to be asleep long after the light was gone, his heart still pounding in his chest. He hoped the sound didn't wake his bed mate.

A small noise suddenly rang out from the other side of the room, startling him from his pretend sleep. His eyes flickered to the dirty window, nervous of a return. But he couldn't ignore the sounds either, lest she really wake up...

Carefully disentangling himself from her, he slipped from beneath the thin covers, shivering as his bare feet came into contact with the bare cement floor. Taking care to step lightly, he approached the small "bed" and reached past the small bars that surrounded the bed. The small sqirming form laying in the middle of the mattress and lone blanket looked up at him with bright lavender eyes, brimming with light and quiet tears.

Quietly shushing the small babe, he cradled the small form in his arms, carefully sitting on the foot of the bed, taking care not to pull the blankets away from the sleeping form of his mate. The small form sniffled in his arms, curling tightly into a ball, quivering slightly in the cold apartment room air.

Taking immediate pity on the small form, he carefully crawled back into bed beside the sleeping woman, and carefully tucked the small babe in the blankets between them, pulling the blankets around himself. He settled with the child curling against his chest, his lover's peaceful face shining, even through the dirt smudges on her features.

Eventually, the sniffles and whimpers of the small babe quieted, and not long afterwards, he began to feel tired and his heavy eyes began to drift shut.


	3. Thriteen Years LATER

Sharp lavender eyes flickered in the lit darkness, bright and shining in the sole lamplight.

"Come on, Lara," a light, straggly blue looking hedgehog pleaded, nervous green eyes darting around every corner of the seemingly deserted street. "Let's just get outta here. The guards-"

"-Aren't even here," she shortly interrupted him. "Geesh, Manic, get a back bone. We're in, we're out, 'kay?"

She rolled her lavender eyes and crouched on her haunches, balancing her thin body with outstretched arms as she carefully edged from around the street corner out into the opening of the deserted street.

Crouching in the shadows cast by the lamplight, Lara-su gestured impatiently for her blue companion to follow.

Anxiously wringing his hands, Manic took a deep breath and followed his echidna friend, skidding to a stop directly behind her, his eyes nervously watching the shadows that surrounded the two.

"Lara..." he quietly whimpered, his poor nerves clearly standing on edge.

"We're almost there," she snapped in a rough whisper. "Just...go...wait for me in the alleyway if you're that scared, you big baby," In a huff, she turned on her heel and dashed off into the open, dark doorway, disappearing from view.

Manic, now lost and more lonely than ever, seemed at a loss of what he was suppose to do. Seeming to make a difficult decision, he set off right behind his pinkish red friend at a hurried jog, eyes searching the deserted street they'd just left.

~!~

Lara-su peered silently from over the tall, brick wall, hoping for at the least a peak of the activity hidden from her view thanks to the high wall security and the numerous recording cameras that whirred with activeness.

The trick was **not **to be caught by the security cameras.

She heard loud shrill voices yelling and throwing loud commands through the biting air. Barely managing to lift her head above the wall, she strained to keep her grip on the edge, her arm and leg muscles already beginning to burn from the strain of supporting her own weight. There were roughly above one dozen troops in all at the bottom of the chasm behind the wall, all in uniform marching and similar suits of training uniform; tarnished gray armor over heavy chain mail and white city clothes of simple slacks, boots and over shirts.

Higher officers prowled among the rehearsing ranks, barking every once in a while at some screwing cadet, or glowering meanly at a random nother. Lara-su imagined her father somewhere below, pacing the ranks of the cadets, keeping a sharp eye out for any break in the straight uniform order of the cadets.

She barely acknowledge the whimpering of the blue hedgehog below her, pacing tirelessly as his nerves worked over-time in the tenseness of the situation.

That was where _she _was going to be when she graduated School. Just like her dad.


	4. Thirteen Years Ago

**There are some things I need to clear up first. If you want any of this to make enough sense, you might want to read this first. **

**1) These chapters are, unfortunately, all over the place. The first chapter (1) takes place when Radred, True Blue, and Tails are teenagers. Lara-su and Manic do NOT exsit yet. There IS a Julie-su and Knux. **

**2) Chapter 2 is based FOUR YEARS LATER. Lara-su is a babe, and Jules and Knux are together. Sort of. Take that anyway you want to.**

**3) Chapter 3 is based thirteen years later. Lara nd Manic are there blah, blah, blah. **

**I'll try to keep on this thing and take the initiative actions. Thank you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I don't own anyone, It all belongs to Archie and Sega. Thank you.**

* * *

13 thirteen years ago...

This city is for scum, she thought with a hidden scowl behind her thick veil.

Truer words never spoken aloud. The sky was gray and murky with pollution and greasy, dark, smelly smoke, dumping acid rain every other two damned days. The streets may as well have been paved with nothing but concrete and motor oil. It was cracked, crumbling and a truly sad sight for the average tax payer who paid for these streets in the first place.

Bright red armor seemed to materialize before her a couple yards ahead and she quickly quickened her pace and crossed the empty street, managing to lose herself in a silent crowd of poorly dressed monks, all with their heads bowed and still towering over her shorter frame.

Feeling nervous, Julie-su's lavender eyes flickered around the street, searching for any more polished, red armor. It wasn't safe to go out into the Light, anymore.

Endroit Des Aliments was just ahead. She gripped the veil tighter around her face, keeping her head angled low. Whenever you actually see a guard looking directly at you, that was never a good thing. For anyone.

* * *

A wide, bright-eyed Lara-su watched the tall figure of her father pace tirelessly before her slightly closed door, his shadow cutting off the relentless beam of light from the hanging Orb hovering brightly from the high ceiling above his head that seeped through the open crack of her bedroom door.

Snuggled warmly in the thick blankest he'd tuckered her in hours ago, she was feeling sleepy and her large, wide innocent eyes drooped close. With a small gurgle and sleepy moan, the small babe was asleep, any thought of a missing mother gone.

Where in the Hells could she _possibly _be!?

Knuckles was a mess. His mate, perfect, beautiful Julie-su, was, and had been, missing for four days. And he had no idea where she could possibly be. Four days ago, she'd left almost directly before him for food, leaving him to leave Lara-su, their only daughter, locked in the apartment, and for his guard patrol of sector A-B2. She'd always been back by the Noon time, but on his return (Sometime after the Dark hours, illegal time for anyone else) she hadn't been waiting for him like she usually was. She wasn't in their bed either, nor Lara's room. Nowhere in the apartment, in fact. And that was bad. Very, very bad. If you weren't in your home by the set curfew, you'd be picked up by the Night patrolling guards. And that was **extremely **(he stressed the point to Julie-su) bad.

He cursed silently to himself. Damn that woman.

* * *

It was dark, it was cold, and it was terrifying. Oh, Gods, what has she gotten herself into this time?

Heavy chains, a guards' "friendly" suggestion to replace the flimsy metallic handcuffs of old, lay clamped around her wrists, leaving just enough slack for her to swivel her head around, but not nearly enough for a more comfortable position from crouching on her haunches, a hard enough feat without the rough jerks and bounces from the airborne cruiser she'd been roughly hustled into some time (hours?) earlier.

Her veil was long gone, dropped and forgotten when some guards had, randomly, grabbed her from the Bizarre. What she'd done wrong, she'd yet to figure out. All she knew was that it was dark, cold, and lonely in the back of the metal seeming prison in the back of the swaying, unsteady cruiser.

* * *

(?) days later

The cruiser came to an abrupt stop, making her yelp in shock and pain as the chains bit into her skin, and she was nearly thrown from her cramped spot if not for the restrained of said chains.

She whimpered as the chains dug into her raw wrists. _Now _they were stopping? She hadn't the faintest idea of how long the nutty cruiser had been in the air. All her muddled, pounding head was aware of was the distant sound of dozens of something small and hard pounding against the metal surrounding her.

A heavy sounding _clang _made her start, her heart jumping to her throat. A blinding light filled the small chamber as the heavy sliding doors to the back of the cruiser loudly clanged open. The back of her eyes burned as the light forced her to turn her heavy head away.

A dark form jumped into the cabin, smartly marching up to her crouched form and roughly jerked her numbing hands upward as he shoved a long, slender looking metallic wand into the keyhole of the shackles. They fell with heavy, dull clangs to the hollow floor. Nothing short of _polite_, the armor clad guard solemnly waited for the pink-furred echidna to stagger to her shaky feet before _patiently _snagging her thin wrist and slapping on another pair of handcuffs (silver bracelets with glowing, unbreakable energy connecting the two, allowing only some few centimeters of free hand movement) onto her wrists and marching her from the cruiser.

It _was _raining, heavy and pouring in buckets, feeling cool against Julie-su's pounding head and aching body.

The guard took no notice of her bare feet (they'd apparently taken her thread-bare shoes at the time of the apparent abduction) or her apparent shivering and weak knees nigh to giving out. (A/N: Sorry for the multiple use of the word 'apparent,' but I couldn't find anything else without sounding too much like a nerd.) True to the expected nature of an infamous guard, he ignored her whimpers and, keeping his painfully firm grip on her thin forearm, continued to march her towards the impending palace looking building reaching higher and higher as the two, prisoner and capturer, marched onward.

* * *

Soaked and shivering, Julie-su curled up in the corner of the dank cell she'd been dumped in two hours ago, ignoring her screaming stomach, and concentrating solely on staying warm. If she thought the cruiser had been cold, it was a fireplace compared to this Hellhole.

Stone, iron bars was all there really was that added characteristics to this hole. That, and the damp hay piled pitifully in the corner she lay curled tightly upon.

Her soaked city clothes (frayed trousers, thread-bare sleeve-less shirt and no shoes) hung on her thin figure, hugging her only because of the rain water. Her long dreads, in dire need of proper hygienic care, was matted and plastered to her skull and neck, loose, once-fine hair tangled quiet possibly beyond repair plastered to her forehead.

* * *

Dark eyes watched unblinkingly the grimy screen hanging before him flickered, the image clear enough to show the thin, dully pink figure curled in a fetal position, her fur color, however dulled and dirty, seemed to shine against the darkness of the cell.

The cold eyes took in the sprawled dreads and damp hair, the apparent bruises shining through the thin fur on her arms, and the way her wet clothes (more like rags in his opinion) clung to the curves of her body.

A sickening smirk spread on his thin lips, his hard eyes emotionless and showing nothing but lust and arrogance. He turned and began pacing before the screen, his long cloak swishing dramatically around his ankles, a deep velvet red that easily hid the dark leather of his tall boots and the midnight blue of his tunic and trousers.

Granted, maybe she _had _been one of those woman who looked better from a distance, but she was, nonetheless, desirable in his opinion. Not that anyone would ever disagree with him lest they value their lives. And no one ever disagreed with him. And besides, he was sure her apparent lack of figure was due mainly to undernourishment on the account of his idiot guards. Oh, well. He'd deal with them later.

Right now, he had some property to claim.


	5. Dark Bindings p1

Author: Thank you for any and all patience by anybody and everybody. I'm very sorry for making anyone wait. I just need a really hard kick in the arse to get me to get anything done...

* * *

_Back to the Present, two years later_

Her pauper clothes, as being too big, barely sheltered her skinny body from the cold city wind. Wrapping her thin arms around her body in a vain attempt at warmth, she shuffled back and forth on her rubber soled boots.

Lara loved her boots. They'd cost her father a fortune, as he'd bought her knew ones after their apartment had been broken into, and her old ones stolen.

_'Now if I could just replace my clothes...'_ she thought with a sigh_._

They were her mother's old clothes. When her father had handed her the hand-me-downs, he'd, unusually quietly, explained to her that her mother had use for them anymore, as she was-SUPPOSEDLY- better off wherever she was now.

Lara had wisely kept her thoughts to herself.

Lara was, unfortunately, considerably "non-robust-ed" as her mother had been, her father had joked once she'd slipped the clothes over her scrawny figure. True enough, the clothes hung like wet towels on her body.

Her mother had been tall ("Sheesh, what was she? A freaking Amazon?") and thin. The trousers hung extremely loose on her hips and the shirt was oversized, the sleeves too long, the opening too long- There'd been a million things Lara could've complained about the clothes. But her father, always the mind-reader, had given her "The Look" before she'd even open her mouth.

Plus, they'd been her mothers'. The unfamiliar word sounded strange even in her own head. A woman she'd never met, and she was wearing her clothes.

-

_Black. A small rustle of well-worn clothe, a small glint of dull metal, the soft whisper of leather. _

_-_

Lara sighed again. It was too cold to stay out here. Besides, class should've been starting soon, anyways.

-

_Trump. Trump. Trump. Heavy boots on dusty cement flooring._

_Whispers up ahead; "All clear."_

_-_

Lara swung her booted foot over the roof edge of the ladders top rung, suppressing a shiver as another chill overcame her. Dropping to the dirt ground, she steadily began her way back into the school yard. But an odd sound made her stop. She looked curiously around, almost positive it was only a burly, red-clad guard barreling towards her, screeching harsh orders of: "Get back to your class, brat!" or "THEIVE! VILE VERMIN, YOU DEFILE OUR CITY NO MORE!!" and then raise his blaster and stun her. Or worse, it was her father coming to lecture her on how she should be _in _class, not outside daydreaming again.

It certainly wasn't an angry father or guard, Lara thought shrilly, shock freezing her on the spot.

Thieves-MASKED THEIVES-were poring from the underground tunnels, quick and eerily quiet. They saw her, the first masked, gray-clothed thieves who came through, easily enough. After all, she _had _been standing _right there _without a doubt in her mind right this moment, she couldn't have been in a more worst spot.

During an apparent raid, for Aurora's sake-

The poor girl barely had time to register the sight of a thin thieve bringing the butt of his heavy gun atop her head.


	6. And other Unpleasant Things p2

_Author: 'Kay, here's number six. It's still set two years later, directly after chapter 5. _

_I'm thinking I might go through everything and rename the chapters so it might help keep better track of the time settings here. Again, I'm sorry they're all over the place._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to Sega and Archie respectively. Thank you. __'Ohgodohgodohgod...'_

* * *

Even though Lara-su's view was strictly bound to the inside of a black bag tied over her head, and all she could hear was the occasinal scruffle of leather boot soles scraping against a sand covered floor, she still felt utterly terrified beyond reason. Her mind racing a thousand miles a minute, her heart pounding inside her thin chest bursting from her ribcage, as sure as she was the starnger could actually _feel _her heart pounding against the shoulder he carried her on, she couldn't bring herself to miffle even a tiny little moan.

The hard muscle pressed meanly into her aching stomach felt painful as the person moved, stabbing at her stomach everytime they took a step.

Her hands were tied tightly with a thin twine that sharply cut into her wrists, twisted to her back, as were her feet. Her sore knees bounced lightly against the strangers stomach, making her cringe in fear.

Gods, what if he was one of those psychos who flipped out at the smallest little deal? What if he kills me? Oh, God...

As that thought floated in her head for a moment, a sob, very quietly, slipped past her lips, trapped in the bag tied over her head. Squeezing her large eyes shut to the confines of the bag, she harshly bit her bottom lip, swallowing the rest of her sobs as thick tears continued to slide down her cheeks.

~!~

"_Section 9 infiltrated, School District on lock down until further notice."_

Knuckles felt ansty, a total wreck to put is simply. He hadn't stood still sincew he first got the report that the middle school Lara-su attended had been attacked by Rebels. To add salt to open wounds, no report, if any had even been taken, on a roll call of the school population.

Continuing to pace tirelessly, he cast a worried glance out to the empty city street in the direction of the school. Gods, if anything happened to her...


End file.
